Machine for winding coreless coils



Oct. 30; 1962 Filed Nov. 12, 1958 i A, A.

FI G.1.

E. J. CRUM MACHINE FOR WINDING CORELESS COILS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 85 86 INVENTOR E. J. GRUM ATTORNEY Oct. 30, 1962 E. J. cRuM MACHINE FOR WINDING CORELESS COILS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 12, 1958 FIG. 2.

m U B m F m 9 w E 0nd m I 5% .r mwl We a w a m 9/2 5 w w w MMEQ m w 4 4. lM 5 m w 5 Hwm 4 ATTORNEY Oct. 30, 1962 E. J. CRUM 3,061,229

' MACHINE FOR WINDING CORELESS COILS Filed Nov. 12. 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 88- 96 FIG.4. o I 97 E l I I INVENTOR E.J. CRUM ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,061,229 MACHINE FOR WINDING CORELESS COILS Eben Jefferson Cr'u'xn, Box 6763, Baltimore, Md. Filed Nov. 12, 1958-, Set. No, 773,444 8 Claims. (Cl. 242-83) This invention relates to a machine for producing a coreless coil of strand material, such as wire, rope, hose, cable, and the like.

'In the production of coils of such materials, a conventional practice comprises providing the convolutions of the coil concentric with each other. In this manner large coils may be provided or groups of smaller coils may be connected together.

Although, ideally, each convolution of a coil should lie on top of its preceding convolution, forming the coils concentrically in this manner frequently results in the slippage of one or more of the convolutions out of place. The reason for this is that it is practically impossible to achieve the ideal conditions with concentrically wound coils unless the convolutions are supported against lateral shifting by .a spool, a core, or some other kind of holding device. The convolutions of a completely unsupported concentric coil tend to shift laterally, whereupon they become displaced vertically relative to each other. This results in a diflicult situation in the subsequent uncoiling operation when it is desired to use the material. Because of this lateral shifting and displacement the uncoiling process is likely to be complicated by frequent tangles.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a machine for arranging coils of strand material in such a manner as to eliminate the lateral shifting of the coils and relative displacement thereof with respect to each other.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine for arranging the coils in such a manner that the uncoiling thereof will not tend to produce tangles.

These and further objects of the invention will be more fully apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational View, partly in section, of one form of machine constructed according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view on line 22 of FIG. 1 showing a reduction gear train for operating the means which guides the wire or other strand material into a coreless coil with parts exterior of the coil on the drum omitted.

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevation taken on line 3-3 of FIGURE 2 further showing the aforementioned gear train and additionally'showing how this gear train is assembled;

FIG. 4 is a plan view taken on line 4-4 of FIGURE 1 and shows one device for supporting the coil during its formation;

FIG. 5 is an elevational view, partly in section, of a modification of the machine shown in FIGURES 1-3; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a partial circular coreless bundle of wire produced by both embodiments of the present invention.

In general, the present invention provides a machine which will form consecutive coils of, for example, wire and arrange them in a circular pattern so that each individual convolution is eccentrically displaced from a preceding convolution and the locus of the centers of the individual convolutions is itself a circle. Thus the inven tion provides a machine for producing a cylindrical coreless coil of wire in which the individual turns'are sufficiently displaced from one another so that slippage and,

consequently, tangling are prevented. The appearance of the product, when viewed from above is as shown in FIGURE 6, V v

The machine shown in FIGURE 1 comprises, as one 3,061,229 Patented Oct. 30, 1962 ice part thereof, a modification of the coiler described in my US. Patent No. 2,743,066. In accordance with the present invention the coiler comprises a hollow stationary casing 11 supported in any suitable manner by frame members 12 of the machine. Within casing 11 there is rotatably mounted a hollow vertical shaft 13, the lower end of which is rotatably connected to a circular drum or block 14 by means of a collar bearing (not shown) and whereby the drum is carriedby shaft 13. The shaft may be driven by any suitable exterior means (not shown) well known in the art.

A horizontal upper ring gear 16 is secured to the bottom of casing 11 and a similar lower gear 17 is secured to the top of drum 14, both gears being concentric with shaft 13. Secured to and extending laterally from shaft 13 is an arm 18 which carries a vertical rotatable. shaft 19 in a tubular bearing 20. The ends of shaft 19 are secured to gears 21 and 22 for rotation therewith, which gears are in mesh with gears 16 and 17, respectively, as shown in FIGURE 1. By these means, gear 17 and hence block '14 are held in the same stationary position as casing 11, irrespective of the rotation of shaft 13, since gears 16 and 17 cannot move relative to each other as long as they are connected together through gears 21 and 22 and shaft 19.

Another arm is secured to and extends laterally from shaft 13. The outer end of arm 23 carries a bracket 24, the lower end 24a of which is disposed at an outward angle and on which there is rotatably mounted a guide sheave 25. T he upper end of drum 14 has an annular upwardly extending flare 26. The lower end of sheave 25 is on a horizontal line just below the top of the drum. Arm 23 rotatably carries another guide sheave 27 which extends part way through a vertical slot 28 in shaft 13. By these means, the rope, wire, or other elongated strand material 29 which is to be coiled is led downward through hollow shaft 13, over sheave 27, out through slot 28, over sheave 25, to drum 14, whereby the rotation of shaft 13 will cause the wire to be wound about the periphery of stationary drum 14. Each turn or convolution added to the drum causes the preceding 'turns to slide downward a distance corresponding to its thickness. The bottom of the drum is provided with a flange 30 on top of which a foot member 31 of a peeling device revolves. This foot member comprises the bottom of a vertical leg 32 connected to an outwardly extending arm 33 connected to bracket 24. Although any suitable means may be employed for supporting arm 33, in the embodiment shown, its outer end 33a is bent in line with the bracket portion 24a and is secured to it. The sheave is rotatably mounted on shaft 24, carried by the portion 24a. By these means, the coil around the drum is continuously peeled from the bottom as bracket 24 revolves, the lowest convolution of the coil being on the outside of leg 32. Thus, the revolving of bracket 24 accomplishes two purposes, namely (l) winding of the rope or wire in the form of a coil about the top of the drum and, (2) unwinding or peeling of the coil from the bottom.

As the coil is peeled from the bottom it drops by gravity and is guided in its fall as described below.

It is necessary, however, to maintain'sufiicient friction of the wire of rope against the face of drum 14 to avoid too rapid or premature dropping of the convolutions without the benefit of the action of the peeler. Tothis end, a group of vertical rollers 35 is carried on spring-loaded arms 36 which are pivoted to a stationary shelf 37. The shelf is supported by brackets connected to the frame (not shown). Springs (riot shown) keep rollers 35 gently pressed against the coils on the face of the drum. Consequently, as leg 32 moves about the drum it passes between the drum and therollers. The latter'move 'o'u'twardly against the action of springs each time leg 32 passes and are immediately returned by the springs.

In accordance with the present invention the above coiling device, which basically is the one described in my patent No. 2,743,066, is modified as follows:

The drum 14, constructed as a hollow casing, is provided with internal ribs and 41 which serve to support a reduction gear train mounted on mounting plate 42. Mounting plate 42 is fixed to ribs 40 and 41 by means of bolts 43. Drum 14 is further provided with an internal hub 44 through which an extension 13a of main shaft 13 passes. The drum is rotatably mounted on this extension 1311 of shaft 13 by means of ball bearing 45. Extension 13a is provided with a male threaded end portion 46. A gear 2 is provided with an internally threaded end portion 47 which is screwed onto extension 46 of shaft 13a. End portion 47 of gear 2 also serves as the retainer for the inner race of bearing 45. In this mannet of the rotation of shaft 13 is transmitted directly to gear 2 which is rigidly mounted on the extension 13a of said shaft. Gear 2 meshes with gear 3 which is rigidly mounted on shaft 48 in any known manner so as to rotate with said shaft. A short distance below its upper end, shaft 48 is provided with an annular shoulder 49, and another gear 4 is rigidly mounted on the upper portion of said shaft. Shaft 48 is rotatably mounted inside flanged hole 50 of mounting plate '42 by means of flanged bronze bushing 51.

Gear 4 in turn meshes with gear 5 which is rigidly secured to shaft 52 so as to rotate therewith. Immediately below gear 5 is a gear 7 which may be machined directly out of the body of shaft 52. Shaft 52 is rotatably mounted inside hole 53 in mounting plate 42 on bronze bushing 54 and is retained inside said bushing 54 and hole 53 by means of steel washer 55, bronze washer 56,

and snapring 57.

Gear 7 meshes with gear 6 which is rigidly secured on shaft 58 to rotate therewith. Shaft 58 is rotatably mounted in hole 59 in mounting plate 42 by means of flanged bronze bushing 60. Rigidly secured to the lower end of shaft 58 to as to rotate with it is a small sprocket wheel 8.

Gear 2, which as described above is threaded so that it may be secured to shaft 13a and to rotate therewith, is provided at its lower end with a stubby shaft-like extension 61 which rotatably carries sprocket wheel I mounted on bronze bushing 62. Bushing 62 and sprocket wheel 1 are retained on stub shaft 61 by means of bronze washer 63, steel washer 64, and snapring 65. Thus, although sprocket wheel 1 is attached to shaft 13, it is free to rotate about it independently. Sprocket wheel 1 is driven by sprocket wheel 8 by means of chain 66.

By means of the above described gear train, rotation of shaft 13 is transmitted to sprocket Wheel 1 which is concentric with shaft 13. The sizes of the several gears in the train may be selected to provide any desired ratio of rotation between shaft 13 and sprocket wheel 1.

A circular guard plate 67 is bolted to sprocket wheel 1 by means of bolts 68 and carries an elongated finger 69 whose function will be described below.

As shaft 13 rotates and wire is wound about the top of drum 14 and peeled from the bottom thereof the falling loops of wire drop about finger 69 which slowly rotates in a circular path inside said loops. Finger 69 rotates slowly and guides the failing loops 70 into a circular path, thus diverting them from a downward vertical path. As a result of such diversion the convolutions assume the pattern shown in FIGURE 6, that is, they form a series of eccentrically displaced loops arranged in a circle. The diameter of the individual loops and the density of the resulting package will depend upon the distance the wire must fall as well as on the relative speeds of the main shaft 13 and guide finger 69.

As the loops fall from drum 14 and are guided in the above described manner by finger 69, they are deposited on pallet 71 which is supported by an automatic elevating Qil and lowering mechanism as described in my copending application S.N. 687,923, filed October 3, 1957, now Patent No. 2,957,646. This mechanism is here shown in FIGURES 1 and 4 and comprises a pair of parallel cantilever arms 72 and 73 which support pallet 71. Arms 72 and 73 are secured to a cross beam 74 which in turn has secured to it at both ends flanges or right angle plates 75 and 76. These plates are disposed adjacent vertical columns 77 and 78 which form part of the frame structure of the machine. Each of the plates 75 and 76 carries an upper roller 79, 80 and a lower roller 81, 82, respectively, which straddle columns 77 and 78, respectively.

Behind cross beam 74 there is mounted hydraulic lift 83 having an outer cylinder 84 carried on footing 85, secured to a base portion 86 of the machine. The lift also comprises the usual piston rod 87, the upper end of which is provided with yoke arms 88 and 89 in which is mounted a free-rotating sprocket wheel 90 by means of axle pin 91. A sprocket chain 92 overlies sprocket wheel 90 and one end of said chain is secured to cross beam 74 by means of bracket 93. The other end of the chain is secured by means of bracket 94 to a fixed structural member 95 of the machine.

Cylinder 84 has the usual hydraulic line 96 and 97 connected thereto. The lower line 97 through which fluid is discharged as the piston rod descends is provided with an electrically operated valve 98 which may be of the solenoid or any other suitable type normally biased to its closed position. A photoelectric cell 99 and a source of light 100 are mounted diametrically opposite each other at a predetermined distance below drum 14 and are electrically connected by means of lines 101 and 102, respectively, to valve 98, as shown schematically in FIGURE 1.

As the machine commences operation, the convolutions of wire begin to fall from drum 14 and are guided in the desired pattern by rotating finger 69 as previously described. The falling convolutions are retained in a circular path by means of a short guide cylinder 103 which is rigidly secured to a frame 12 of the machine by means of brackets 104 and 105, and is coaxial with main shaft 13. Holes 106 and 107 are provided at opposite ends of a diameter of cylinder 103 at the level of the photoelectric cell 99 and light source 100 to provide a normally uninterrupted path for the beam of light directed at the photoelectric cell. As the height of the coils of wire 108 begins to build up on pallet 71, the coils eventually reach a level where they break the beam of light. When this occurs, photoelectric cell 99 causes valve 98 to open and release some fluid from cylinder 84, permitting piston rod 87 to drop, and thus lower pallet 71. Fluid will continue to be discharged from cylinder 84 until the level of the top of the bundle being formed has dropped a predetermined distance. At that point there is provided another photoelectric cell 109 and light source 110. When the top of the bundle has dropped to just below this level the normally interrupted beam of light now can illuminate photoelectric cell 109 through a second pair of holes 111 and 112 out in guide cylinder 103. Photoelectric cell 109 is also connected in a known manner, to valve 98, so that, upon being activated by the beam of light from source 110, it acts to shut the valve and stop the descent of pallet 71. The level of the bundle then continues to build up and when it again reaches the level of photoelectric cell 99, pallet 71 once more is permitted to drop. This cycle of events is repeated until formation of the bundle is completed.

In a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the pallet 71 is also kept stationary except for its vertical movements, the machine illustrated in FIGURE 1 is modified to provide a guide finger which moves externally to the falling coils of wire. This modification is illustrated in FIGURE 5.

In accordance with this second embodiment, a coiling drum 113 having a flared upper end 114 but not provided with the internally mounted reduction gear train shown in FIGURES 1-3, is used to provide the initial convolutions. The remaining portions of the coiling unit are the same as in the first embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 1-3, and are so indicated by like reference characters. For the purposes of the embodiment illustrated in FIG- URE 5, the coiling unit which includes drum 113 may be the same as that shown in my prevoiusly mentioned copending application S.N. 687,923, filed October 3, 1957.

In similar manner, the other parts of the embodiment of FIGURE 5 which are the same as the corresponding parts of the embodiment of FIGURES 1-3 are so indicated by like reference characters. Thus, the same guide cylinder 103, pallet 71, elevating mechanism including cantilever arms 72 and 73, photoelectric cells 99 and 109, and light sources 100 and 110 as in the first embodiment are here used.

However, according to the embodiment shown in FIG- URE 5, guide cylinder 103 is provided on its upper edge with a track member 115'. Slidably mounted on the track member 115 is an annular sprocket wheel 116 which is driven through chain 117 by a smaller sprocket wheel 118. Sprocket wheel 118 may be directly mounted on the shaft of a variable speed motor 119 which may be secured to the framework of the machine by any suitable means (not shown).

Welded to, or otherwise rigidly secured to annular sprocket wheel 116 is an inwardly extending finger 120. During operation of the machine the speed of motor 119 is adjusted to cause finger 120 to rotate slowly inside guide cylinder 103. As the finger slowly rotates, turns of wire 121 falling from drum 113 are guided to drop into a plurality of overlapping convolutions, eccentrically displaced from one another, to form a bundle 122 having the pattern shown in FIGURE 6. The density of the bundle, and diameter of the individual convolutions may be controlled by varying the speed of shaft 13 as well as the speed of finger 120.

As in the machine shown in FIGURES 1-3, the layers of turns continue to build up until the beam of light from lamp 100 to photoelectric cell 99 is broken. Thereupon, valve 98 opens to release fluid from cylinder 84 and pallet 71, carried on arms 72 and 73 of the lift mechanism, descends until the top of bundle 122 drops below holes 111 and 112 permitting a beam of light from lamp 110 to illuminate photoelectric cell 109 which stops the descent of the pallet. The level of the bundle then recommences to build up and the cycle is repeated until the bundle is complete.

I claim:

1. A machine for producing a coreless coil of strand material which comprises a unit for receiving strand material, coiling it, and discharging it vertically downward in consecutive loops; a horizontal support member for receiving said consecutive loops, means for changing the elevation of said support member relative to said unit; rotatable guide means disposed between said unit and said horizontal support member adapted to guide said consecutive loops downward in a circular path whereby said loops are deposited on said horizontal support member in the form of a circular coreless coil of eccentrically displaced convolutions; and means for automatically actuating said elevation changing means when said circular bundle has attained a predetermined height.

2. A machine for producing a coreless coil of strand material which comprises a unit for receiving strand material, coiling it, and discharging it vertically downward in consecutive loops, said unit comprising a vertical stationary drum, a hollow vertical shaft coaxial with and rotatable relative to said drum, means for winding loops of strand material onto said drum, and means for discharging consecutive loops of-strand material from said drum; a circular member rotatably mounted on the shaft free to rotate independently about said shaft; speed reduction means operated by said shaft adapted to rotate said circular member at a predetermined fractional speed of the speed of said shaft; guide means mounted on said circular member to rotate therewith inside the loops as they are discharged from the drum, said guide means being adapted to guide said loops downward in a circular path whereby said loops form a circular coreless coil of eccentrically displaced convolutions; a horizontal support member disposed beneath said guide means for receiving said coreless coil; and means for lowering said horizontal support member as the height of said coreless coil increases.

. 3. A machine for producing a coreless coil of strand material which comprises a unit for receiving strand material, coiling it, and discharging it vertically downward in consecutive loops; a stationary cylindrical member disposed beneath said unit for restricting lateral movement of said loops; movable guide means mounted at the upper end of said cylindrical member extending inward and adapted to move about the periphery of said cylindrical member and guide the consecutive loops as they are discharged downward in a circular path whereby said loops form a circular coreless coil of eccentrically displaced convolutions; a horizontal support member disposed beneath said cylindrical member for receiving said coreless coil; and means for lowering said horizontal support means as the height of said coreless coil increases.

4. The machine of claim 3 in combination with variable speed means for driving the movable guide means mounted on the cylindrical member.

5. A machine for forming a coreless coil of strand material which comprises a unit for receiving strand material, forming a plurality of vertically contiguous horizontal loops of uniform size therein, and dropping the formed loops one at a time; a vertically movable horizontal support member below said unit for receiving said loops as they drop from the unit; rotatable guide means disposed between said unit and said horizontal support adapted to guide said consecutive loops downward in a circular path; and an annular vertical wall member between said unit and horizontal support to limit outward displacement of the loops falling downward from the unit, said horizontal support being independent of and vertically displaced below said vertical wall member, whereby said loops are deposited on said horizontal support in the form of a circular coreless coil of eccentrically displaced convolutions, and portionsof the resulting coil as they are formed are removable from the machine by lowering the horizontal support member.

6. The machine of claim 5 in combination with means for changing the elevation of the horizontal support member relative to the unit.

7. A machine as defined by claim 5 in which the radius of curvature of the wall is less than the diameter of the loops discharged by the unit.

8. A machine as defined by claim 5 in which the diameter of the wall is greater than the diameter of the loops discharged by the unit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 334,453 Morgan Jan. 19, 1886 627,722 Edwards June 27, 1899 2,214,333 Walsh et al Sept. 10, 1940 2,703,686 Bell Mar. 8, 1955 2,886,258 Haugwitz May 12, 1959 2,929,574 Henning Mar. 22, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 520,105 Belgium June 15, 1953 

